10058/Common ground

Common ground
Date of Scene:	15 November 2019
Location:	Dormintory hallway, Xavier's, Music room, Xavier's.
Synopsis:	Brad and Andrea work through a lot of issues between them.
Cast of Characters:	Rage, Haunt

---

Rage has posed:
Having talked with Gwen the night before when she came home from 'combat' in the middle of Salem Center to protect her fellow students and faculty, Andrea made her way down the hallway of the boy's wing to the room that she was told Brad would be staying at. It's early afternoon and she is dressed in a pair of jeans and a baggy Xavier's sweater with her hair pulled up behind her.

Reaching out, she lightly knocks on the door from outside, then waits patiently as she taps along the glass of her phone as she puts it on silence, trying to swipe the dozens of notifications that endlessly pop up to further her irritation.

Haunt has posed:
Brad rolls over in his room, stopping what he was doing: which was very little, actually, he'd been resting, and 'listening' to some things. When the door knock comes, a wash of telekinetic wind skims through the hallway around Andrea, subtle but there. Brad comes up on the other side of the door, his voice pleasant.

"Who is it?" Brad calls, though. He can't tell, except that somebody was there. He does start to crack the door open, though. He's entirely invisible at the moment.

Rage has posed:
Giving a shiver at the brush of wind along her body, Andrea tucks her phone into her front pocket, then gives her shoulder a rub. When the door cracks open, she offers up an optimistic smile. "Hi Brad. It's Andrea. I was hoping we could talk and I could offer a whale of an apology for yesterday. That was really stupid of me and I feel terrible about it. Would that be okay?" She asks, her voice soft with a hint of nervous energy in her throat.

Haunt has posed:
The door opens to an empty room, but obviously Brad is there. Besides, with high senses? He's breathing right there, and his scent is close. "Oh, hi. Andrea." Brad isn't upset in sound, he's a little cautious. He wasn't sure who she was until she told him, and he's adjusting. "There's a chair in here if you want?" Brad offers.

The chair moves itself a few feet towards them, and Brad gets out of the way of the path to the chair, sounds of his movement going towards his bed. "Jay told me it was probably an accident or mistake."

Rage has posed:
Stepping into the room, Andrea takes the chair and settles down into it, folding one leg over the other. "I was just teasing a bit. I really didn't mean to frighten you. You kinda come off as a confident and sorta tough guy earlier, which I liked. All I did was shift and sit next to you. I figure you'd be surprised and get a chuckle out of it. It's why I wasn't growling or snarling or anything." She rubs her hands together, then sighs. "I hate my powers. I hate that I can't fly or sparkle or have something cool with my voice. No. It's turn into a horror show and I freak people out. I thought .. you being blind, maybe it wouldn't be that bad. Most people want to pet me or something afterwards." She sighs. "I just went about it the wrong way and I'm sorry, and when I came back from changing into my clothes, you and Gwen already took off so I had no clue you were upset. I'd have come sooner. Just...uh.. later that night I was being escorted by a staffer and something happened. Something bad and I had to protect them. So I didn't get back to real late."

Haunt has posed:
Brad is quiet for a little bit, but does close the door. He doesn't slam it, but does shut it, since this got a little more personal. "Well," Brad says quietly, from the vicinity of the foot of his bed. He's picking through his words. "You acted like it was an important secret that you couldn't tell me. And then did it while I was talking to Gwen. It felt like you were messing with me, like the point was to try to scare me with it, because I couldn't see whatever it was. I really hate people doing things //because// I'm blind. Just makes me upset. I hate being this way."

"I asked you to stop. But you didn't explain, just ran around the room and left without saying anything? It was creepy. Really creepy. Yeah, I was angry about it. Like a weird prank on me. I don't want special treatment but like."

Rage has posed:
"I can't speak in that form. It'd come out like snarls and growls and it would be even more frightening. No one can understand me like that. I can force out a word or two but it really hurts my throat since wolf vocal chords don't work the same as a human." Andrea says with a sigh. "And it is an important secret, I guess. If the rest of the world found out that America's Disney girl next door popstar was a monster, they'd freak out and that'd be the end of my career and my ability to try and influence and affect change in human and mutant relations. It's why I rarely use my powers." Her shoulders slump. "But I really /am/ sorry I upset you. I guess being here I'm just so used to everyone being a mutant like me and maybe I'm starting to become desensitized to it. I'm also under a lot of stress recently, like .. big time stress and I'm holding it in my chest and I'm not coping with it in a healthy manner and I find myself just acting out and being stupid without intent to harm. I just.. I was just stupid. Can you forgive me, please?"

Haunt has posed:
Brad's quiet again: there's a measured way to that he thinks about what he's saying before saying it. It's something he does when he's more calm, maybe. "I used to be really damn cool. I could kind of do whatever I wanted at school. Football jock, you know? Which also meant I was sort of a dick. To a lot of people," Brad says. "So like. It looked like /that/ to me. We all kind of have our baggage, right," Brad says. "It's not cool for me to assume you're like that since you seemed like you had this perfect life." There's jealousy there.

"It's cool. I mean, I didn't know you couldn't talk. So it was like, you turned into a monster and waited for me to scream or something. I wasn't going to," Brad sighs. "But okay. It's forgiven of course. Just like, if you'd told me first, it would have been entirely different. I would've been ready for teeth and silent creature. If it makes you feel better, it was the situation that was creepy, not whatever you looked like. I can't 'see' the fur. I won't overreact if you do it again. Okay? Also, if you want to trade powers, I'm totally up for it." A smile in his voice.

Rage has posed:
There's a small sniff from Andrea. "I'm getting death threats because someone leaked my address, where my parents live. I bought them this really nice condo in the city and people are saying they're going there to set me on fire in my sleep and murder my parents and die mutie scum, shit like that. I don't have a perfect life. I get the normal celebrity gossip rag crap, followed by all the mutant stuff on top it, and I get to go outside and smile for the cameras and show off my rocking summer swimsuit body and toss my hair and sing my songs about boys and heartbreak." Wringing her hands together, she sighs. "I started my charity, Starlight House, so I can reach out to other mutants like me who don't have it /good/ and can find help. I've saved a lot of lives through it, either through my hotline, or my shelters, or just me reaching out and giving them money so they can get a hotel for a few nights. I really am trying." She says in a softer voice. "And you're still cool, Brad. We will help you here so you can get back to normal and then you can be a badass again and play sports or whatever. It's what we do here."

Haunt has posed:
"I've only had a little of that," Brad says, his voice quiet, empathetic. "But I'm invisible. I'm not a target. I don't really matter. So. Neither extreme is that great." Brad's then very quiet, though there's some motion on the comforter on the bed, when Brad's weight moves against it. He shivers, and moves to pick up the hoodie from the floor, pulling it on. It relieves the strange sense of talking to nobody that tends to happen when Brad's invisible.

"I don't know if I'll be allowed to stay here. I have to talk to somebody that can control that. Plead my case or something. I'm nervous about it," Brad sighs. "I've given up my sports dream, unsure if I can even do music now. Downgrading the dreams to fit reality. So while I get that your life is shitty, you ARE doing a lot of good, it sounds like. Wish I could."

Rage has posed:
"Of course you will be able to stay here. This is what Xavier's is for. It's for people like /you/. Especially you. They will help you. A lot of this is basic high school, but a good chunk is the mutant stuff. Learning how our powers work, learning to control them so they don't control you, then learn how to apply them in a way that you won't be a danger to anyone else, or yourself. The fact that Miss Munroe let you come is like .. aces. She trusted Jay and I to make the call." Andrea says with a smile towards the floating hoodie. "Just trust me when I say that we have some of the world's /experts/ in mutants here on staff and we /will/ find a way to help you, somehow." She reaches out for his sleeve to take him by the hand if she can follow his arm down and give it a squeeze.

Haunt has posed:
Brad doesn't freak out or pull away from the touch to his arm: he sensed it coming, and seems to be fine with touch: he turns his hand over automatically to make it easier for her to find where his thumb and palm is to be squeezed. His hands are broad, warm, normal human hands. Just not visible.

"I'm trying not to hope. But if I can get rid of my invisibility, and see again? Shit. I'd have really cool powers. Like. I get that. But as it is, this is really the worst. I guess we'll find out. No pressure." Brad laughs, nervousness in his voice.

Rage has posed:
"Well, knowing that you went blind and invisible at the same time, makes me think it could be something with the way that your eyes process light. We may be able to fit you with some special goggles or a visor that can help your eyes readjust to light again. I'll even front the bill for invisible lasik for you." Andrea giggles as she curls her fingers around his. "You aren't the first here that has issues with their eyes. Mister Summers, one of our teachers wears a visor made of rubies because if he takes it off and opens his eyes, he has red hot lasers that cut through anything uncontrollably blast out of his face. We found only ruby can contain the blasts. So he can only see the world in colors of red, but it keeps him from killing people. We /can/ find a fix for this as well, even if it's not the /best/ fix, we will find a way for you to be functional again." She says with that typical Andrea confidence which has become famous in the halls. "And then we'll all go play football in the backyard, which is huge by the way."

Haunt has posed:
"Well. Wow. Yikes. Okay. Yeah, my thing is not the worst, then. I am not murdering anyone I try to look at," Brad says, dismayed, but laughing a little. Uncomfortable, but sometimes hearing about how someone else is worse off can help!

"I can play football now," Brad answers, with his own apparent confidence. That bravery she'd mentioned, it's there again. "I'm just all kinds of a cheater. You will never get the ball," Brad teases. "I'm kidding. I can play without cheating just fine, so long as things aren't too far away."

Rage has posed:
"You said you liked to do music. What did you used to play?" Andrea asks as she finally lets go of his hand, leaving behind a warm imprint upon him. She has an elevated temperature, just a few degrees higher. Not a fever. Not quite. "Or were you more of a sing in the shower type of guy?"

Haunt has posed:
"My singing, for everybody's sake, should remain entirely in the shower," Brad answers, tone easily joking. Now that the topic is on comfortable things like sports and music, his relaxed ease returns. "I'm /still/ a drummer, totally unaffected by being blind. Rock'n'roll. I can copy anything I hear, or freestyle. I just can't really show you 'cause I don't have drums here, so you'll have to take it on faith."

Rage has posed:
"Well, I'll take you to the band room then one day and you lay down some tracks if you want. Jay and I both play the guitar and we both sing." Andrea says with a grin. "I've been looking for a drummer. I'm also in charge of Glee club by the way if you want to join." She teases. "I won't make you sing Invisible by Clay Aiken if it makes you feel any better. We always sing a song on the first day. But you can join as a drummer too. It's really fun and good for some laughs. No slushies thrown in our faces too."

Haunt has posed:
"Oooof, no, I'm not a singer even at all," Brad says, his sleeves lifting in a 'no no' gesture across his body. "Where's the band room? Can you describe where it is? I'm pretty good at finding things when I know what I'm looking for," Brad asks, with a lot of interest.

" I don't understand the slushie thing, what do you mean?" The reference goes entirely over Brad's head.

Rage has posed:
There is a giggle from Andrea. "Old TV show from the early 2000's was called Glee. Special show to me actually. I watched the hell out of it as a kid. Bunch of misfit kids got together in Glee Club and the school made fun of them, ridiculed them. The jocks and cheerleaders would throw red slushies in their faces in the hallways." The popstarlet smiles at the memories. "And then as Glee started to perform for their school and hometown, they showed great courage in the face of bullies and then won the state finals. It took awhile but they gained everyone's respect and was not seen as losers. Even jocks joined." As she rises upwards, she smiles. "Come on, follow me. I'll take you there. I'll even sing to you if you want to hear something acapella."

Haunt has posed:
"Oh, okay, that sounds familiar; I wasn't really into sitcoms," Brad says, but his tone is bright. He slides off the bed, clearly willing to immediately go on this adventure. "Sounds like a lot of sports movies, though, or some music ones. From the early 2000s, did you see 'drumline'? That's the shit, that made me want to do that," Brad says conversationally. He opens the door, going into the hallway.

"Also I don't mind the invisible song. I can make fun of myself. Just rather do the drums, not sing it," Brad answers. "By the way - are you a thing with Jay? He dodged me about it. Just curious."

Rage has posed:
"I did see Drumline! My parents watched it with me. I loved that movie. Anything with music in it I pretty much devour." Andrea says as she walks down the hallways, then down the stairs slowly so not to lose him.

Then, he just has to ask 'that' question. "Uhh... am I with Jay?" She asks as her brows lift upwards, tilting his head. "So he dodged it, huh? What did he say?"

Haunt has posed:
"Basically that it was complicated. I'm being nosy, forget I asked, it's not my business," Brad says, pulling back quickly in a verbal retreat. Whoops. "When you were in the alley it seemed like it, was all. Is the room on the main classroom level?" Brad asks.

Rage has posed:
There is a soft laugh from Andrea. "He said it was complicated, huh?" She gives a grin towards the floating clothes. "We are not together, no. But if you're interested in him, I'll put in a good word." She says teasingly. "The long story short is that he's working through some issues in regards to his last relationship he had, and I'm being extremely patient in waiting for him to make a decision. I'm respecting his need to take things slow."

Haunt has posed:
"I'm not gay," Brad says, with the defensive tone he's used a number of times flaring up again. "Not sneaking into womens' locker rooms doesn't make me gay, it makes me not a piece of shit," Brad continues. His sweatshirt flickers in and out of existence briefly: visible, then not, then back again.

"Ugh, nasty breakup? Okay. Everybody here seems to have troubles there. Guess it's just like high school," Brad says, his voice more sullen. "I don't date anymore for obvious reasons."

Rage has posed:
"I don't know where you got sneaking into a locker room out of me teasing about putting in a good word about Jay." Andrea says with a furrow of her brows. "But no, he didn't have a nasty breakup. It wasn't a breakup at all. It was something else." She opens the door to the band room, stepping inside as she gives a glance about. The room has perfect acoustics and sound proofing on the walls. Perfect for making music.

Haunt has posed:
"Sorry. I've had people think I was gay for not doing that," Brad says, adjusting. "I'm --- yeah, moving on." Brad lets that whole mess of paranoia go, and instead focuses on where they are more fully. Meaning, things around them, that previously had the slight wind tugging them, instead begin to rattle and move.

In a music room, that means it gets very, VERY loud, as all of the instruments sound off in some manner. The piano sounds like someone dragged hands over it, the strung instruments are plucked and move: it's an extreme level of drowning noise.

Rage has posed:
"Jay wouldn't sneak into a locker room either. It's just called being a gentleman. That doesn't make anyone gay. Besides, why peek into a locker room when the Internet has all the free pictures and videos of better looking boobs you could ever want?" Andrea winces as everything goes off, grinding her back teeth as she clamps her hands over her ears. "Ow! Wolf ears!"

Haunt has posed:
The noise drops away. "Yeah, can't watch any videos OR pictures on the internet, but sure, great."

Brad's figured out where stuff is, and weaves around a piano immediately to the groups of instruments beyond that. There's a clear focus of the empty sweatshirt on the closest drumset, examining it by touch of hands now, feeling over the surfaces of it: checking it out in a way very clearly related to blindness. He forgot her for a minute, so he's not pretending he can see, he's splaying his hand to quickly measure width across the snare drum. Standard width, great. The kick drum is fired off about eight times in an even rhythm: similar to what would be asked for a sound check.

"Thanks for showing me to this room, Andrea," Brad says, a bit more quietly.

Rage has posed:
"Okay, I'm sure you /used/ to before you went blind. Is this your thing? Try and counter everything someone says with an epic one-up of self-deprecation?" Andrea asks as she picks up her guitar, then slings it over her neck and shoulder. Her fingers begin to strum the strings easily as her fingers pick out the chords.

"I promised you a song. Do you want me to sing for you?"

Haunt has posed:
"I think it's more a general state of constantly being unhappy," Brad answers. Which, of course, is exactly what she just called him on: it is yet another epic one-up of self-deprecation. He proved her statement. He fiddles his fingers around the bottom edge of the snare drum.

And then there's silence from his area. Maybe he's taking her words to heart. He doesn't answer her question: there's just silence from the drum area. The sweatshirt disappears, as well.

Rage has posed:
"But you don't have to be unhappy in this moment. We're about to have fun with some music. Just try and relax and enjoy yourself. Forget about the bullshit for a bit, you know what I mean?" Andrea calls over as she squints her eyes as his sweatshirt disappears.

Then, she starts to sniff the air a few times, tilting her head to one side. "Are you still here?"

Haunt has posed:
"I'm here. I'm just .... Negative all the time. It's not getting better. I'm going to go, okay? Maybe talk later. I'd like to just be by myself a little while. So I'm not snapping at anyone. I'm being an asshole." Brad's sweatshirt reappears, showing that he's climbing down off the drum throne, and heads towards the doorway.

Rage has posed:
"Brad, please don't go." Andrea calls out to him as she tracks him with her eyes as they gleam in the bright lights of the band room. "It's okay. I /get/ it. Trust me. My negativity is at an all time high as well. I just .. I don't vocalize it. I just beat the shit out of myself in my head."

Haunt has posed:
"Yeah. I just also realized you're this world-famous pop singer. Like, what the hell am I doing in here? I just can't do this. I don't want to hear if I'm shitty. It's all I have, playing these. I'm sorry. It's my problem. I just--- okay. I've now talked too much. It's fine." Brad rambles, rocks on his heels once. His blush is extreme, not that anyone can see it, and he pushes on the door, opening it.

Brad's emotions are uneven, for sure. He's weathering the shock of dumpster-diving in alleys to the school of hope but realizing that he's bashing himself in front of her, this famous person? It's too much. "I ... okay." Retreat!

Rage has posed:
"Brad. When I am in this school, I am just Andrea Jackson. Senior. Member of Glee Club. I'm not world famous in these walls. This is my sanctuary. This place is where I can /finally/ be normal amongst my peers without cameras flashing or people wanting my autographs or TMZ popping out of my toilet trying to take a shot of my ass. Grab the sticks and hit the drums. Come on, let's jam out." Andrea says in an assuring voice as her fingers rumble along the strings of the guitar.

"Talking things like this outloud is good though. If you don't talk it out and bottle it up, you become a werewolf." She says with a smile over towards him, giving a motion to the drums. "So, let's do this. Pick a song, I'll follow you and sing."

Haunt has posed:
"I was gonna have cameras flashing and autographs and TMZ," Brad says, his mood difficult to determine, since his voice is closed to emotion. "Hearing you say you hate it is like, it sucks. I dunno, Andrea. And it's really hard to forget that. I know it's not your fault. It's just not fair." Brad stays in the doorway area, perhaps feeling better to just have the escape route open directly next to him. His stress grows again, making the room flutter with sounds.

Rage has posed:
"I got famous when I was like eleven, twelve? I blew up at thirteen. Went platinum at fifteen, went double platinum last year on my next album. Was on a hit Disney show. It's fun at first, definitely, but then I came out public to the world as a mutant because I wanted to take a stand for equal rights and I was tired of hiding. Then life shifted. Half my fans hate me, half my fans love me. I get death threats. People talk about my weight, my sex life, my clothes, my hair, my music." Andrea rubs a hand along her face. "If I didn't come out as a mutant, I think maybe I'd be fine. Who knows. But I made a decision. I made a /good/ decision. Mutants need someone to look up to. Little girls who are mutants need someone to look up to. To tell them that it's /okay/." She sighs heavily. "But I accepted this. In the end, it will be worth it. If I can help /anyone/, even just /one/ person, I know that all of this struggle was worth it. You get it?"

Haunt has posed:
"Yeah, I got sports famous around thirteen. So much for that. I mean, I get that you chose to give up great shit to be more yourself. You want to help. It's great. I didn't get to pick. So I'm just... angry. Okay? I'm angry. Everything was taken from me. I know I'm whining about it. But it wasn't supposed to be like this for me. I was supposed to get to //choose//." Brad releases a raggedy breath.

"Just like, imagine you're starving, and a person is complaining how they get stomachaches from eating so much. I get it, but it's hard for me to not be a dick. I'm sometimes a dick," Brad's smirk enters his voice a little. "If you want to just be Andrea with me, and not mention your albums and platinums and how you are a hero to little girls and everything, you can have that with me. I'm sorry I got set off when you offered to sing like it was a big treat. I just... remembered the rest of it."

Rage has posed:
Rubbing the back of her neck, Andrea says, "I just wanted to sing with you because you said you loved music, and I thought maybe if you got to play the drums again and I can play the guitar, maybe it'd bring you some joy. It wasn't like I was offering to sing to you like you're a fan, or because I'm famous." She glances off to the side and sighs to herself softly. "I'm sorry if I upset you."

Haunt has posed:
Brad huffs a breath out of his nose, and stalks back over to the drums, as if stomping somehow made him feel better. "Do you /know/ 'invisible'?" Brad asks, his voice taking on an overt insolence. He knows she knows the song; she's the one that brought it up. He checks the kick, two quick taps, claiming the sticks finally (he hadn't picked them up before). The cymbals play in rotation, ending on a loud crash cymbal hit, without stick use. Telekinetic drummer is being overly showy. He's nervous about this.

"Starts with guitar and vocal, if I remember right, then I come in."

Rage has posed:
The lips of Andrea twitch a bit as she hears him rustling about at the drums. "I know it." She says as her fingers slide along the body of her guitar, then starts to play the familiar chords. She begins to rock back and forth a bit to find the groove, then pours out the lyrics in that beautiful voice of sultry rasp. Anyone can make fun of popmusic for being over saturated with autotune, but when she opens her throat, she looks to silence the haters.

"Ooh!
What you doin' tonight?
Are you really alone? Who's stealin' your dreams?
Why can't I breathe you into my life?
What would it take to make you see that I'm alive?!"

As she hits the chorus, she roars through the lyrics emotionally as she is sure the drums are to join her guitar.

"If I was invisible! I could just watch you in your room!
If I was invincible! I'd make you mine tonight!
If heats were unbreakable! Then I could just tell you where I stand -
I would be the smartest man!
If I was invisible .. wait! I already am!"

Her chin tilts towards the drums as she listens to him play, strumming lighter so that his thumps can take precedence over her chords.

Haunt has posed:
While Brad doesn't play immediately - the song doesn't call for it - he does count with light taps of right stick against the rim of the snare drum, counting himself in to enter at the right spot. He does, evenly, and forms the strong beat and backbone for the song, evenly. There's no chance of overpowering the drums: they're loud in the room!

Brad doesn't sing: at least, not until the second chorus: he's picked up the words by then! He isn't awful, adjusting to simply harmonize a little down from where she's vocalizing. He's 'average', vocally, so her voice can save him there! If she really belts she'll drown his vocals out, but not the drums; she can let it rip without fear of neutralizing drums.

Glances to the drums might be a little distracting: seeing drums 'play themselves' with just a low-sitting sweatshirt hovering with slight pulses from running the kick drum is a funny visual. Brad does a small explosion of freelance beats towards the end after one of the lifting chorus breaks, but otherwise sticks to the song. His playing was slightly stiff initially, but then smoothed out. He can't do a lot of things, but drum playing, there's talent and skill.

Rage has posed:
When he sings along with her, Andrea can't help but smile through the lyrics. She continues to pour through the words as she bounds on her feet left to right as she plays the guitar. This is a goofy song. Some would say it's probably a gateway stalker song, but she sings it with joy none the less.

She really cuts loose vocally, allowing the perfect acoustics of the room carry her, and him, on this musical journey of Clay Aiken. By now, a number of younger students are peeking through the door to watch Andrea dancing and playing in front of the drums with with appears to be a ghost drumming away.

As the kids start to dance and clap, the popstarlet gives them a motion with her head for them to come inside, then rings out the chorus once more. A young girl with pink skin and blue hair hops on the piano to begin tapping along the keys as she synchronizes with the other two. Another young boy joins in with Brad to sing, showing off a range of falsetto, which isn't bad for an eleven year. His hair is also on fire.

Haunt has posed:
If Brad has a problem with the growing audience, it isn't apparent. He may not even be aware of it, his focus is on what he's doing, not all the other things or people moving in the room. Since nobody actually comes into Brad's space, he doesn't trip up, but continues through the song to the end. When one of the kids tries to kind of peer down towards the sweatshirt seated at the drums, the crash cymbals go off, making the kid jump back with a quick laugh; the movement was unexpected. Brad plays across the drums, making the sticks dance a little, flips them in the air for the child's pleasure in a rapid swirling twist, catches them, and rests them against his knee.

Rage has posed:
When the song comes to an end, the kids cheer and bounce around Andrea, flailing their arms and asking for hugs. She gives a girl a firm squeeze. "Hey guys, the drummer is my friend Brad. He's going to be a new student here."

"HIIIII BRAAAAAD!" The kids call out in unison.

Giggling, she slides the guitar off her and hangs it back up after retuning it. "That was fun." She calls over to the ghost drummer. "Whatcha think?"

Haunt has posed:
"I'm not sure if that's going to happen," Brad laughs, abruptly uncomfortable. "It's not up to me, guys," Brad adds. He doesn't sound shy: it's just part of the problem of the invisibility: he seems shy even if he isn't, because it's a perception of him being hidden from sight.

"Obviously we should do another one," Brad suggests....